Thursday, September 15, 2011

Sketch Reviews (September 15 2011)

I've been rereading Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell in preparation for the release of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami next month; at the same time, I've been in a bit of a David Bowie mood lately having gotten a few more of his albums. So, it made sense that I'd eventually put Diamond Dogs on to create a little mental synergy or some other stupid term. The Nineteen Eighty-Four-related songs are ones I like, but... they don't really seem to have a lot to do with the book, do they, besides a few phrases here and there... The one that comes closest is "Big Brother" and it has some odd moments that make you go "What the fuck is he singing about?" Ah well. The songs sound awesome...

Batwoman #1: Finally! For the art alone, this should be the top-selling DC #1 for September. Of course, it won't be, but... [****1/4]

Criminal: The Last of the Innocent #4: Is Britt Black meant to be Encyclopedia Brown all grown up? I sure hope so. Not at all the comic I expected. Richards continues to do horrible things and it all works out fine. Who saw that coming? Maybe I should have... I'm looking forward to whatever Fatale turns out to be. [****]

Daredevil #3: Another great-looking comic! A lot of this seemed to be Waid giving Rivera a chance to show off before Waid came back towards the end with the court case. That scene in the bar to end the issue was pretty amusing. I like how the opening arc was only three issues, too. Probably a necessity for Rivera (though maybe not, I don't know), but effective and economical. Definitely sticking with this book. [****]

Fear Itself #6: Is it just me or does Odin shift his personality and mood like twelve times in this issue? He has more mood swings than you'd think possible. Then again, he's senile old man, so he's probably just confused much of the time... Looking at the promo image for the Mighty that was release today, I have to wonder: why no weapon for Steve? Who builds a bunch of mystical god-killer weapons and doesn't build one for the supposed best fighter/tactical mind in the Avengers? Tony "I won Civil War" Stark, that's who! It will all be over soon, my children... [**]

Journey into Mystery #627: My favourite part is the teaser for the next issue at that promises it "on sale 9/14/2011" aka yesterday. Oops. A pretty good issue that felt substantial by detailing a bunch of stuff we didn't know while, at the same time, not actually advancing the story one bit really. Clever bit of storytelling by Gillen. That's how tie-ins are supposed to work, right? [***1/2]

Scalped #52: Now, that's an ending! And a comic! I really do like this new paper they're using. And Nitz's nicknames for his agents are... well, funny... more than anything, this new arc has me wondering where it all goes. I surely do love this comic. [****]

Later